The Hunted
by Sieg350
Summary: In a land already full of danger, a new foreign danger emerges. Can Naruto and his friends stop it before it's too late? NaruHina, SasuSaku, other to come. M for language and later content.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I simply own the OC's and this story. Don't like it? Too frickin' bad.**

Fear….fear was all the man knew for hours. He had been running since sunset, and he was no further from the beast that tracked him. The beast had seemed human at first glance; a bit paler than usual, but human none-the-less. Curious, the man had gone to see if it was alright, since he had found it crying alone in the forest. As he grew closer to the person/thing the air seemed to grow colder, as if an autumn breeze had been blowing. But that was impossible, it was three more weeks till the cold seasons started, and his mind grew wary. As he reached out to touch the person, he saw a glimpse of its eye. At that instant he knew, this was no human. He quickly withdrew his hand, and the creature stood and faced him. A cold and terrifying laugh erupted from the creature's throat; all he could think about was running. The creature slowly stalked towards him, yet he could not move. It smiled, revealing two sharp canines about two inches in length, knowing the man was paralyzed with fear. Fear was common place in this man's life, yet he had never felt a fear like this. It was great enough that not even his bowels would release, his body was completely frozen in place. He closed his eyes and while waiting for the inevitable, prayed for a swift end.

A sound to his left made him open his eyes and, at first, he could not believe what had made it. A boy, no older than fourteen at least, stood in the bushes notching another arrow in his bow. The creature snarled as it looked at the boy's first arrow. To it the wound burned; something that was unusual for a normal arrow. There was something strange about this boy, and something very familiar.

Another noise came from behind the creature, and before it could react a blade pierced its heart. The blade made from pure silver, yet with a golden snake slithering up its edge. He watched as the creature's body burned from within, turned to ash, and blew away in the breeze…

Konoha was a different beast at night, or so it seemed. Its streets were filled with exhausted workers, laughing bands of drunken men, and the occasional prostitute. To any normal person all was as it should be, yet there were things that no-one had seen…except for one small boy. Naruto, a boy of twelve and student at the Academy, waited with baited breath in a small alley; hiding from the small mob of drunken citizens hunting him. For as long as he could remember he had been hunted, and for reasons unknown to him. They called him 'monster', 'demon', and beat him. Tonight was no exception, he had been hunted since the sun went down and the normal crowds went to bed.

Naruto knew he was near the gates to the village, but knew not if he could escape into the wilderness. He had to try though, he could not bear the waiting anymore. Naruto peeked around the entrance to the alley, all clear. Bolting for the gates he heard someone shout, "There he goes!", but he did not stop. He knew they would not dare follow him outside the village at night. Only the completely enraged drunks dared that, and only for the first few minutes. Luckily, none followed him this time, and he was allowed a breather.

There had been legends and rumors about the wilderness at night time, yet Naruto had not found anything providing evidence of any truth to those. Vampires, werewolves, and even powerful undead creatures were said to walk through the forests at night, yet none had ever been seen. Those that were said to have seen them were always seen with a bottle in hand, thus eliminating their legitimacy. But tonight...tonight seemed different than normal, Naruto could not place his finger on what it was though. It was as if he was not alone, but he knew none of the villagers followed him.

What was this tingle on the back of his neck? Why was there the feeling of eyes watching him? Naruto could not sense anyone nearby, though he had never been very good at that, yet he still had that feeling of being watched. He stopped to catch his breath for a minute and think about his situation. He was definitely alone where he was, but the feeling still persisted. Looking around he could see nor hear anything out of the ordinary.

"Are you lost?" A cold voice asked from his left.

Freezing in place, Naruto slowly looked in the direction of the icy voice. When did this person get here? How long had it been watching him?

"N-No, not lost, running from people trying to kill me." He replied trying to calm his nerves.

"Well, I can help with that."

The voice had begun to disperse mid-sentence, yet Naruto still felt a presence near-by. Several minutes passed, and nothing had happened. Not one thing out of place, not one sound, one scent, not even a single rogue leaf. That feeling was still nagging at Naruto's neck, but he could find no evidence of anything wrong! Nothing, absolutely nothing was there! He was desperate for help, and his mind was playing with him. Several more minutes passed by before Naruto's nose caught something strange, sulfur. Never before had he encountered the smell of sulfur in this forest, many other smells but never sulfur. The smell made him queasy, and his first instinct was to move away from it. Yet, he could not move. Despite all his effort, his body refused to be moved. It was as if every nerve, muscle, and even the blood in his veins were frozen stiff. Naruto had been on the verge of death before, and even that did not scare him as this had.

"You are a touchy one aren't you." The voice said, moving into Naruto's view.

The man standing before Naruto was very pale. He stood 5'10" with crimson hair, deep black eyes, and wore a leather jerkin and a set of blackened breeches, but the most notable feature about the man was the blade at his hip. It was not like the ones seen around the Shinobi villages; this one was straight with a cup hilt.

"I'm new to this region, so I doubt you know who or what I am. So let me explain what exactly is about to happen to you. My name is Athanasios; I'm one of many first generation vampires. I was chased away from my original home, and now I'm forced to feed upon you and your people. Lately I have been unable to obtain any fresh….sustenance so I'm afraid I'm going to have to drain you of your blood." The man said drawing a small blade from inside his jerkin.

"Don't take it personally, unlike most my kin, I love humans. You are all so interesting! Especially your people, hunting a small child for something that happened years ago is just…so…monstrous. I think I'm doing you a favor." He said drawing a small bit of Naruto's blood from his neck using the knife.

As Athanasios drew his head back from Naruto's neck, the sound of an arrow being loosed from a bow broke the silence. The arrow hissed past Athanasios' head causing his hold over Naruto to falter. With the hold loosened, Naruto managed a kick to Athanasios' stomach; knocking him back several feet. Athanasios growled as pain circulated throughout his abdomen, days without fresh blood had weakened him significantly. Naruto, attempting to regain his bearings, retreated to the safety of the tree tops. As he landed on a branch a boy stepped from the bushes, an arrow notched on his bow. Athanasios, angered further by the boy's insolence, ripped his sword from its resting place whilst charging him. Attempting to give the boy a chance to fire another arrow; Naruto began flinging what little bit of tools he had at the vampire.

Something was very familiar about this boy and his arrows, but Athanasios could not place his finger on it. Twigs and leaves cracked and snapped as a man in metal armor charged him, sword held straight and firm. It was then that he realized who this boy was, and what was happening. Seeing his death in the equation, the vampire began to flee. Grabbing the boy and throwing him into the armored man; he fled into the forest as fast as his legs would bear him.

Silence held the area for several minutes, even the animals of the area seemed to disappear. Naruto cautiously watched the two down on the ground, knowing not if it were safe to come down. The vampire had fled from these two, but that did not necessarily make them friends. It was rare for him to come in contact with someone who did not fear, hate, or want to kill him. Why should these two be any different? The man's armor was foreign, but imports from distant lands were not uncommon. He only knew they had saved him, whether intentionally or not, and tradition demanded he thank them. Fear had hold of his body again; he did not want to make more enemies. What if they just used him as a distraction?

"I taught you better than to show yourself to the enemy so soon." The man scolded the boy.

"I had to save him, if I had not shown myself Athanasios could have killed him." He retorted.

"At least your heart is in the right place, even if your head is not." The man sighed, patting the boy's shoulder.

"Are you going to watch us all night? We mean you no harm, friend." He said looking around for Naruto.

Still fearful of their intentions, Naruto climbed down from his perch. He was exhausted from the running and from trying to fight free of the vampire's hold. The two foreigners did not look hostile towards him, and the man had spoken with a soft expression. Fear was almost painted on Naruto's face; he was too tired to hide anything.

"Hello there, my name is Sir Leon Grey; and this is my pupil, Xenocrates." The man said, bowing his head slightly.

"Uh, just Xeno if you want." The boy added.

Naruto smiled, these two wouldn't try to kill him. The others never bothered to introduce themselves; they only tried to kill him. His exhaustion caught up with him, and he fell towards the ground.

Naruto spent the next few weeks staying at Leon's camp. Over the course of that time he learned of three other knights; Sir Dominicus, Lady Aza, and Sir Mathias. Though they never talked to him, he got the feeling they were kind people. Xenocrates seemed out of place among these battle hardened warriors, though something was strange about him…

"Damn those knights!" The vampire raged.

His wound had yet to heal, even with frequent feasts. It had been several weeks since his encounter with them, and still the wound bled. Even in his weakened state, the wound should have healed twice over by now. What was it about that boy that made his arrows so effective? Before that last encounter it had been four years since his very first encounter with him. The knight had taken great pains in saving that boy, though Athanasios knew not why. It would be several months before his wound was fully healed, giving him plenty of time to think about it. It also presented the opportunity to plot his revenge against that cursed knight…

**Demons in a land already in peril? Who are these mysterious knights?**


End file.
